Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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This committee consists of repre- sentatives from each of the sixty- five competing countries. Each na- tion has its own Olympic council. This council contains one or more representatives of every association governing every sport in the coun- try, and a few other co-adopted members chosen for their special knowledge or experience in organi- zation. The funds necessary for the nation’s participation in the Olympics is raised through this or- ganization. Although there is not supposed to be any special classifi- cation of results which show any nation as “the winning nation,” the national councils have a great ten- dency to find the exact position of their nation in each Olympiad. The Olympic Games which should be of the most interest to us. as American people, were those of the tenth Olympiad, held in Los Angeles, California, in July, 1932. Tn preparation for this grand event, it may be said, a city was built to order. “Olympic Village.” as it was named, sprang up almost over night. This was the headquarters and residence of athletes, coaches, and trainers from all parts of the world. The village consisted of a series of two-room houses, each ac- commodating four men. In addi- tion there was an administration building and a main dining-room, which was approximately twelve hundred feet long. The dining- room was divided into separate rooms, so that each team could make its own eating arrangements. Each team also brought with it its own cooks, so that the contestants were enabled to adhere to the diets to which they had become accus- tomed. The feminine athletes, their coaches, and trainers were housed and entertained in the residence halls of the University of Southern California. The major portion of the events were held in the Coli- seum, which was reconstructed as the Olympic Stadium. It is the larg- est athletic arena in the world up to the present date. The athletes were stationed thirty-five feet below ground level, and the famous quar- ter-mile track was constructed around this space. Dressing-rooms and showers for a thousand con- testants were an integral part of the structure. One noteworthy fea- ture was the system of tunnels which led to the dressing-rooms, un- der the seats to the “pits” adjoining the edge of the playing field. Here other tunnels connected and led under the track to trap-doors on the field itself. Added to all the other comforts of home, physicians, dentists, and American Red Cross nurses and workers were present to carry out a well organized program of health and sanitation. The tenth Olympiad was held for sixteen days — from July 30 to Au- gust 14, inclusive. Over seventy thousand spectators were present in the huge Olympic Stadium to wit- ness the event. Every day during that period, the crowd was fed on thrills ; but as the program came to an end, it was still hungry for more. The Olympic Games are import- ant for many reasons, but one of the greatest is because of their position as an instigator of world peace. Few can appreciate the friendly feeling created among nations by this world-wide gathering. An im- 28

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mans participated. To be a victor in these games was the greatest joy in the life of any boy and the glory about which all fathers dreamed. For that very purpose the boys were put in training at the age of seven, and the training continued for more than thirty years. The prize was simply a crown of wild olive, nothing more, but this was the greatest honor a Greek could ever attain, and whatever position of power or fame he may have later achieved, his proudest title was “Olympian Victor ’ He was greeted at home by his fellow citizens with a mighty celebration for which, during the illustrious period of Greece, the leading poet of poets composed a song, which was ren- dered by a large chorus of trained singers. A statue was erected in his honor at his home and perhaps at Olympia ; and if he had won three victories the statue was his own likeness. During the rest of his life he was a chief citizen. The wildest uproars for a modern athlete have no parallel for the usual, the cus- tomary honors conferred upon an athlete of intellectual Greece. How- ever, in the year 396 A.D. the Ro- man Emperor issued a decree for- bidding further celebration of the games in Greece. These body build- ing and brain building exercises were continued in a slight degree, through personal interest, in sev- eral other countries. After a lapse of fifteen centuries Baron Pierre de Coubertin brought about the modern revival. His per- sonal admiration of the English public schools and English ideals of sport influenced him to determine to impart those ideals both to France and to the rest of the world by organizing an amateur meeting of all the nations in athletic rivalry every four years. The first celebra- tion of the revival was appropri- ately held in Athens in 1896, where the famous Marathon Race was standardized. This celebration was made possible by the munificence of a private citizen of Greece, and forty-four nations were represented by one or more delegates each. The London Olympiad of 1908 is re- garded, however, as marking the commencement of a fresh athletic era throughout the world. During this new era, women were intro- duced into the jranks of athletes, and they are attaining a surprising degree of efficiency. They have raised themselves to an equal basis with the men in nearly all sports. They excel in diving and swimming, although there are many other edu- cational sports which have attrac- ted their attention. The records which they have made in the Olym- pics are comparable to the record of high school and preparatory school boys. In mentioning the place of women in the Olympics, it is only natural to mention “Babe” Didrik- son. She is the heroine of the Olym- pic Games, the breaker of records, and a winner of championships in an amazing variety of strenuous athletic sports, and the most im- portant fact to us is that she is a United States athlete. She is a mod- el American girl, for through ath- letics she has maintained a healthy body, an intelligent mind, and a charming personality. The chief management of the Olympic Games centers about the International Olympic Committee. 27

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portant factor in regard to the tenth Olympiad was its position as a “depression buster.” Six million dollars was spent in preparation for it, and many thousand men were given employment in preparing for and producing the games. In these games “equality” is the slogan. A small town boy has as great a chance to make good as a city-bred boy. A fine example of this “equality” is the case of David Colwell of Byfield, who is a relative of one of Manning ' s recent gradu- ates. He made a remarkable show- ing in one of the recent Olympiads and was highly honored. The Olympics are rapidly spread- ing over the entire world and many small countries hold games every four years which are similar to the world-wide Olympics. These Olym- piads are producing a group of husky, healthy champions who are nearly as great as the true Olympic victors. In gazing back into the athletic history of yore, one cannot but be impressed by the manifold advan- tages the youth of today has over his athletic ancestors of twenty cen- turies ago. Likewise, it becomes clear that the modem Olympic Games have become, in all human probability, a permanent feature in the world’s calendar of sport; and athletics is making better men and women of the present-day youth. American Shipping By John Alexander, Jr. A merican shipping had its birth with the coming of the Pilgrims. These adventurer s were financed by English merchants who were interested in the possibilities of building a new commerce with a new land. Every boatload of new emigrants brought manufactured articles to the colonies and re- turned to Britain laden with raw materials from the new America. The Puritans were even more ambi- tious for commerce with England, for their larger settlement needed more supplies. The Dutch in New Amsterdam, of course, carried on a lively trade with their own mother country as did the Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, and Germans, who came to the new land in increasing numbers. Every ship brought more immigrants, and thus the supply of imports increased to meet the ever growing demand, and the colonies exported all surplus products. Be- sides this need for trade the new Americans were people from great seafaring nations, and they turned naturally to the sea as the element with which they were the most familiar. Thus the American mer- chant marine flourished and grew. As the years passed, the Yank- ees began to branch out in their commerce. They developed a trade with the West Indies in rum and molasses. They sent their vessels di- rectly to the Cape of Good Hope, to Hindustan, Java, and Sumatra. They carried on a lively trade with 29